History

Erasmus Bond is a bit of a mystery to everybody. Although he invented THE first ever Tonic in 1858, quinine had already become popular some 100 years before. Read the full history!

It were the Spanish conquistadores who dis­covered in the 17th century that the indigenous tribes in present Peru used the bark of the cinchona tree to cure various “fevers”. This “Jesuit’s bark” quickly became a very popular malaria cure in Europe. Not much later, it was also taken as a preventive medicine.

The extremely bitter active ingredient of the bark, quinine powder, proved to be a very power­ful medicine, but not particularly plea­sant to consume. The British officials stationed in various tropical outskirts of the British Empire mixed the powder with sugar and water. This made the intake of their daily dosage of this bitter “fever killer” a little more pleasant. A splash of gin helped as well. Up to then these “tonic waters” were home brews. This all changed when in 1858 a man called Erasmus Bond patented an “improved aerated tonic liquid”. He was the very first to combine the quinine with a whole range of other flavouring agents. Tonic was born.

Since then tonic has evolved from a necessity to a commodity, from a fever killer to a thirst quencher. The arrival of high end spirits in modern times resulted in a substantial demand for quality mixers. Diverse flavour profiles in spirits require tailor made tonics.

That is why we created three different tonics, with their distinct aroma and taste. This gua­rantees the perfect marriage of spirit and tonic, in the name of the father of all modern tonics,